Will Not Submit

Returning alone to the dilapidated orphanage, Tom went straight to his small room. He glanced out the window at the bald eagle circling in the sky. "Apos..." His gift, his pet, a poor little creature with no home, just like him.

'What are you still hesitating for... Pointless emotions will become your stumbling block. Only those who go astray will sink into the turbid currents of fate...'

A familiar voice whispered in his ear. Tom's eyes lost focus for a moment. Hesitating? What was he hesitating about now? That person would completely leave him in a few years, become the next head of the House of Malfoy, and live with his elegant and beautiful wife. Such a future held no place for him.

Tom didn't answer. He watched Apos disappear, let out a light laugh, and withdrew his gaze. See, he had always been alone. He couldn't keep anything that was, in any way, important to him. He would always stand here alone, just like now. It was tiring, but there was no pillar to lean on.

'That's right~ Fear only brings death... Abandon it... just like everyone else abandoned you... Follow your instincts and move forward...'

Where his gaze fell, all color faded like a tide. Tom stared blankly at his hands, which were gradually turning gray and white. He closed his eyes, letting himself be consumed by darkness. When he opened them again, he found himself in another bizarre dream.

Before him stood the same handsome and devilishly charming young man, his scarlet eyes flashing with an inexplicable excitement. 'Come... I will help you obtain everything you desire...'

Stepping forward on the dark red earth, Tom walked straight past the young man, his eyes fixed on the blurry green light in the distance, not looking sideways. 'I've always been curious... how exactly do you appear in my consciousness? If you are truly my future, then you should know very well...'

Turning gracefully, the smile on Tom's face was just right, making people feel good about him yet unable to dismiss him lightly. 'I will not bow down to anyone, not even myself... I would rather shatter into pieces...'

A spell pierced the young man's body. The originally handsome face contorted into a ferocious expression. He glared venomously at the calm Tom. 'You... weakling who cannot distinguish fact from fiction... I will watch you until the day you are completely destroyed... My Lord...'

With a dismissive scoff, Tom coldly watched the black mist gradually dissipate. Things he couldn't control, even his own future, he would crush without hesitation. The path he should walk could only be decided by himself, even if that path was blocked.

"I saved... myself."

Returning to reality, Tom stroked the body of his wand. Before leaving the school, he had found out that Hogwarts housed the Chamber of Secrets belonging to Slytherin. When he returned to the school, he would find a way to locate that chamber, as well as the legendary wand crafted by Salazar Slytherin himself.

Tom went to the courtyard at night, standing where the Old Headmaster used to sunbathe. He looked up at the dark sky. This was never a place he should have been. Brief, beautiful memories had already been covered by unbearable ones. The faces that should have been clearly etched in his mind gradually blurred. "Headmaster, where is my place to belong..."

Wool's Orphanage was not his home, so what about Hogwarts? Could he stay forever... in the place that held so many of his... first experiences of different emotions?